Marbles, Alleys, Mibs, and Guli!

Lalie Harcourt and Ricki WortzmanIllustrated by Scot Ritchie

My grandpa's shed has lots of stuff in it. It's my favourite

place to play when we visit my grandparents. There are so

many neat things to see.

Today, I find this big box that looks really old. The

printing on it gets me curious. I am curious a lot!

Don is my grandpa's name, and the printing is like how

a kid would print. I figure that this is my grandpa's stuff

from when he was a kid.

I run and ask if I can open the box. Of course, Grandpa

says okay. When I open it, right on top is an orange bag

with a black rope tied tight at the top. Inside the bag? Well,

inside there are lots and lots of marbles!

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Some marbles are wrapped in old chewing gum

wrappers. They look like special ones.

I spend time sorting and counting the marbles. I jump

when my grandpa puts his hand on my arm. He's super

happy when he sees the piles of marbles.

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My alleys! Aren't they great? These large marbles are called shooters.

Grandpa decides we have to play a game right away, so

we take the marbles and head outside.

Grandpa uses a stick to draw a target on the ground and

says I can decide how many points for each circle. I choose

5 points for the centre circle, 2 points for the middle circle,

and 1 point for the outer circle.

I take light-coloured marbles to play with. Grandpa

takes darker ones.

For the first game we each play with 5 marbles or, as my

grandpa calls them, alleys. My last shot is lucky and it lands

in the centre for another 5 points. That ties up the game

with 11 points each! Of course, I want to play again!

Then we decide to play with 10 marbles each. I still get a

score of 11 even when playing with twice as many marbles.

That surprises me! Grandpa beats me with a score of 12.

We decide to use 15 marbles each for our third game.

This time we add a new rule. We decide you get 10 bonus

points for knocking a marble out of the target. We both do

that once, so we each get a bonus of 10 points!

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Grandma shows up just as we finish our third game.

She seems even more excited than Grandpa about marbles

or, as she calls them, mibs.

Grandma says she was a great player. Her friends

wouldn't play with her for keepsies, only for fair. For

keepsies? She explains that playing for keepsies means the

winner gets to keep all of the marbles used in the game.

When you play for fair, everyone takes their own marbles

back after the game. Grandma must have been really good!

Grandma asks to play a game she invented. She puts

3 rocks in a line and explains that if you roll your marble

between 2 rocks, you get 10 points. If your marble hits a

rock, you get 5 points.

Grandma reminds Grandpa about using a lag line to

decide who goes first. We draw a line, which is called the

lag line, and then we take turns shooting marbles to it.

The person whose marble gets closest to the lag line goes

first. And, yes, Grandma gets closest!

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Then we play the game that Grandma made up. In this

game, each person plays with 8 marbles, and you keep score

as you play. After we each have 2 turns, we are all tied up.

Grandma is really good! 4 of her marbles sail through

the rocks, and 2 other of her marbles score 5 points because

they hit rocks.

I'm happy I score 45 points when 3 marbles go through

and 3 marbles hit rocks.

Grandpa has 5 marbles that don't score at all. He has a

score of 25 points.

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Grandma, if I hit a rock, I'll get 5 points.

I'll tie you!

I notice that Grandma shoots her marbles in a weird

way, so I ask her about it. She shows me how to knuckle

down. It really helps my aim. I only need to hit a rock and I

will tie Grandma! I think she is proud of me.

Meanwhile, Grandpa decides to practise his shooting.

I bet the scores in our next game will be closer.

We must be pretty loud because Karni hears us and

comes over. She lives next door to my grandparents

and says she figured out a game of marbles was going

on. Karni is excited to see the marbles or, as she calls

them, guli.

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Karni shows us how to play a game she played when she

was a kid in Indonesia. First, Karni draws a triangle. We

each get 8 marbles and put 1 of our marbles in the triangle.

Then, we each shoot 1 of our marbles and try to get closest

to a side of the triangle without going inside it. Karni gets

the closest, so she gets to go first.

Karni explains that we take turns trying to knock a

marble out of the triangle. If you do, you get to keep that

marble, but your marble stays in and you get another turn.

When the triangle has no marbles left in it, everyone puts

another one in. The person with the most marbles at the

end wins. We decide we will play for 15 minutes.

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The game is fun. Karni wins, but it's close! When the

game ends, Karni leaves and Grandma and Grandpa go

inside to make lunch.

I really want to play some more, so it's perfect when

Nia shows up. She lives down the street and we play

together a lot.

I show Nia the marbles and we decide to play a new

game. We draw a big circle target with a smaller circle

inside it. We decide that, if your marble lands in the outer

circle, you get 5 points. If it lands in the little circle, you

get 20 points.

Then we take 32 marbles and divide them into

2 equal piles.

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After we have 2 equal piles of marbles, Jade and Jackson

show up. They are twins who live across the street. Jade

and Jackson are really interested in the marbles, so we ask

them if they want to play too.

They do, and we have the target ready. All we have to

do is divide the marbles up to make sure we each have the

same amount. Not so hard to do!

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We are just about to play when my grandparents and my

brother and sister show up. I'm happy to see all of them,

but I really want to play. So do they!

We decide that the first person to reach 50 points will

win. Then, after lunch, whoever wants to can return to

play some more. Sounds like a perfect plan!

Before we can play, though, we have to divide the

marbles up so we all start with the same number. I'm

getting a bit worried that we will never get to play! But we

quickly figure out how many marbles we each should have.

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Finally, we are ready! Everyone has the same number of

marbles. We all agree on the rules.

I figure that now I have a lot of experience, so I should

be pretty good at using my shooter.

I draw a lag line and each of us shoots a marble to it to

see who goes first. It's kind of funny that my little sister

gets closest. She has never played before! I'm really curious

to see how this game will turn out.

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My sister got a score of 50 after only 4 turns! When you

think about it, that's amazing. My score was only 10 after

4 turns. I know I can do better next time. For sure I want to

play again after lunch!

Visual CreditsBack cover: (girl) GraphicsRF/Fotolia

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